Saturday, August 14, 2010

Eugene Ormandy was a surprisingly dedicated Ives conductor, at least on disc, and a very good one too. This version of Three Places in New England was, if memory serves, the first of Ives' original scoring for full orchestra, and it's quite fine. As to be expected, the Philly players sound terrific, and Ormandy seems to be enjoying himself (he was never noted for his sense of humor). The performance of the Holidays Symphony also stands with the very best; for many years this was the only way to get all four tone poems on disc, with Thanksgiving and Forefather's Day being a particular novelty. The sound is gratifyingly clear and clean for an RCA/Philadelphia production, save for some slight congestion at the entry of the chorus in Thanksgiving. Part of the Japanese RCA Ormandy edition, and now available on demand from Arkivmusic.com, this disc represented a major contribution to the Ives discography when it first came out back in the 1970s, and its qualities haven't diminished at all in the decades since.—David Hurwitz

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A warm welcome to all fellow classical music enthusiasts.The purpose of my blogs is two-fold...to give back to the community who has helped me so much over the years and provide info to my radio listeners. Thank you both and thank you 1.FM for your continued support. All of the cd's you find here are the latest additions to the web radio and are broadcast or will be in the near future. I want to encourage every visitor to buy the cd's and support the artists. Thank you for visiting my blog and please listen to my radio whilst browsing. Contributions and suggestions/opinions are most welcome. Happy listening!